Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Climate Change and Water) Share this | Hansard source

I will take that interjection, Senator Abetz, because I understood from the member for Flinders previously that you were supporting this legislation. But you appear to be so divided now that you are opposing it or delaying it. As I recall, he came out saying you were supporting it. The rationale for the renewable energy target—and I think Senator Milne and the Greens are well aware of this—is that we want to provide an incentive that brings forward investment in the range of renewable energy opportunities that Australia has, such as solar, wind, wave and geothermal. Unlike those opposite—and I note that they are very quiet—who presided over a reduction in the amount of renewable energy used in this country as a proportion of electricity—